Combination bag cutter and bag clipping device



Jan. 6, 1959 F. H. lNE 2,866,975

COMBINATION BAG CUTTER AND BAG CLIPPING DEVICE Filed Feb. 25, 1957 INVENTOR.

Uniteds tates Patent Q COMBINATION BAG CUTTER AND BAG CLIPPING DEVICE Frank H. Inc, Milwaukee, Wis.

Application February 25, 1957, Serial No. 641,914 8 Claims. (Cl. 1120) This invention relates to a new and improved combination bag cutter and bag clipping device.

The present device is used in the clipping of plastic bags wherein the neck is twisted and the machine fastens a metal clip around the closed neck of the'bagin the zone where it is twisted in'order to secure the bag in closed position and seal the contents thereof. The clips employed are formed of heavy gauge sheet metal and are substantially C-shaped in original condition. The clips are bent by the apparatus into a substantially circular shape, with one of the arms of the C overlapping the other and with the twisted, closed neck of the bag clamped tightly inside the clip. customarily a portion of the bag extends above and beyond the clip and one of the features of the present invention is the provision of a cutter actuated in combination with the clip closing mechanism, which cutter severs the excess bag material.

.Reference is made to copending patent application Serial No. 561,732 filed January 27, 1956, for Automatic Packaging Clip Feeding and Fastening Device. The present invention constitutes an improvement thereon.

The structure wherebythe clip is closed comprises a p'aii-of-pivoted jaws and a plunger which pushes the base offtheclip ,outwardly and causes the jaws to pivot to close the clip. The plunger is pneumatically actuated. One o f the features of .the present invention is the fact that the same source of compressed air which closes the clip moves the cutter, and further, that the valve which actuates the clip-closing mechanism also actuates the cutter moving mechanism.

Still another feature of the invention is the construction of the pneumatic system hereinafter described in detail in such manner as to insure that the cutter blade is not moved until the pivoted jaws have closed the clip, thereby insuring that the excess bag material will not be severed until the clip is properly secured in place.

A pivoted magazine is employed to deliver the clips into proper position between the jaws prior to insertion of the twisted neck of the bag therein. By the attraction of gravity this magazine is normally in vertical position and when in such position drops the lowermost clip from the magazine into thespace between the open jaws. When the operator inserts the twisted neck of the bag into the clip, the movement necessarily pushes the lower end of the magazine back out of the way and this movement brings the magazine into proximity to the valve which actuates the jaws and cutter blade. Accordingly the present invention provides an arrangement of parts such as to facilitate rapid production whereby manual effort to actuate the mechanism is reduced to a minimum.

; Still another feature of the invention is the provision of safety means to protect the operator from the cutter blade.

Other objects of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following specification and referring to the accompanying drawings in which similar ice , characters of reference represent corresponding parts in each of the several views.

In the drawings: Fig.1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a bag closing machine of which the present invention forms a part, showing the lower end of the magazine pivoted rearwardly; f

Fig. 2 is an enlarged schematic view showing portions of the actuating mechanism partlybroken away in section; and

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary front elevational view of the cutter blade and associated mechanism.

The present invention is employed in closing bags 21,

such as plastic bags used to package meat products and the like. Preferably by means forming no part of this invention the bags 21 are air-evacuated and the necks 22 are manually twisted. The apparatus hereinafter described clamps asheet metal clip 23 around twisted neck 22 in order to hold the same in tightly clamped position and prevent air from entering the evacuated bag. Viewed in top plan, the clip is essentially O-shaped, with a rounded base 24. The outer extremities of arms 26 of the C are also rounded to prevent injury to the bag when the clip is applied.

As illustrated in Fig. 1, the machine which forms the present invention is preferably mounted on a vertical stanchion 27. Surrounding a portion of stanchion 27 is a sleeve 28 carrying a set screw 29 threaded therethrough whereby the elevation of the sleeve on the stanchion may be set at a convenient height. A vertical plate 31 is welded to sleeve 28 and provides a mounting for the other mechanismof the machine, only part of which is illustrated herein. Fastened to plate 31 by means of screws 32 is a downwardly, forwardly extending bracket 33, the outer end of which is formed with bifurcations 34 through which passes a pivoting pin 36 which forms a horizontal pivotal mounting for a clevis 37. Clevis 37 is welded to the back of base-supporting member 38 of the lower magazine section 39. Hook shaped supports 41 are fixed to base support 38 and at their opposite ends to armsupporting member 42 which extends parallel to but spaced from base-supporting member 38. Lower magazine section 39 receives clips 23 with base 24 thereof against base-supporting member 38 and legs 26 straddling the arm-supporting member 42. Below lower magazine 39 is an arcuately shaped sheet metal retainer 43 which is formed with a leg 44 fastened to valve housing 46, which in turn is supported from vertical plate 31. The center of curvature of arcuate retainer 43 is the center of pivot pin 36 and hence as lower magazine 39 is swung backwardly to its retracted position, retainer 43 prevents clips 23 from being dislodged therefrom.

The forward part of valve housing 46 is irregularly shaped. The front portion thereof is formed with a horizontal table 47 having an arcuate recess 48 to receive neck 22 of bag 21. The size of arcuate recess 48 is such that clip 23 deposited thereon as it drops off the lower end of lower magazine 39 does not pass through, but is held on the upper surface partially surrounding neck 22. Rearwardly of table 47 housing 46 is formed with a front chamber-forming portion 49 which is concave and is surrounded by a substantially annular flange 51. In back of valve housing 46 is a rear chamberforming portion 52 which is likewise concave and formed A washer 61 is provided on the end of rod 58 opposite 'boss 56 and held thereon by nut 62 threaded on the end of rod 58-- A spiral-spring 63. is interposed betweendiarn phragm 54 and boss 56 and biases the diaphragm toward the right, as viewed in Fig. 2. Rear chamberforming portion. 52 -is formed. with a downwardly; extending projection 64 having a duct 66 communicatingwith the rear chamber-forming portion. When compressed air enters duct 66 .as- .hereinaftenexplained, .itflexes the diaphragm-tothe left, .as .viewedin Fig.2, which. pushes rod 58-tothe left. T heforwardend of rod. 58 carries a triangular shaped plunger 67, the forward end of which is formed with an arcuate recess. conforming to the curvature of the backv of base-24 .of clip .23.; Plunger 67 moves clip 23 disposed on table 47 forwardly when air enters duct 66.

Projecting upwardly. from table .47. onopposite sides and spaced rearwardly ofrecess-48 are a pair ofstuds 68 which form pivots for, jaws 69 and 71.. Righthand jaw. 71 is pivoted to lefthand stud.68 and lefthand jaw. v69 is. pivoted to righthand stud-68. Jaws 69 :and 71 are lame. inated andinterfitting, the construction forming nopart of the .present inventionand notbeing illustrated or .described in detail herein. So as to permit thetwo jaws 69 and. 71 to pivot simultaneously about studs :68, the outer.ends.72 of. the jaws are curved inwardly, the,inner. edges conforming to the curvature of arms 26 of clip 23. When .plunger 67 moves forward and pushesclip 23 forwardly, the ends of arms 26 engage pointsfl72. By reason of the fact that the jaws are pivoted to studs-6$, the forward movement of clip 23 produces an. inward pivotal movement of the jaws which compresses the clip.

Actuation of plunger 67 is controlled by valve 76 attached to-the bottom of bracket 33. The air supply .for the machine enters valve housing 76 through intake pipe 77 whichcomrnunicateswith the valve cylinder 73. A valve piston 79 reciprocates in cylinder 78 and iisflbiased by spring 81 to a position closing oflf the intake port. 82 of air inlet pipe 77. Stem 83 attached to. piston 79. extends forwardly through the front wall of valve housing 76 and the outer end 84 projects beyond housing .76. When lower magazine 39 is pivoted rearwardly about pivot pins 36', base supporting portion 38 thereof contacts end-84 of stem 83 and pushes piston '79 rearwardly against the force of spring 81 until port-82 is cleared, whereupon communication is established between air inlet pipe 77 and pipe 86; To insure opening of the valve, a concave disk 87 is attached by means of arm 88 to lower magazine 39 so that when the operator inserts the neck of the bag between the arms of clip 23,. as has been heretofore described, in the event that the consequential movement of magazine 39 is not sufdcient to open valve 79, disk 87 can becontacted to complete the opening movement, Pipe 86 communicates with duct 66 and accordingly the pressure of air behind diaphragm 54 moves plunger 67 forwardly.

Adjacent the lower end-of projection 64is a duct 91-which may be opened to communication. with.duct 66 when needle valve 92 is opened. Valve 92 comprises a pointed threaded plug in tapped hole 93 in the lower end of extension 64. By turning handle 94 on the end of plug 92, communication between ducts 66 andv 91 may be cut off and by proper adjustment of valve 92 the flow from duct 66 to duct 91 may be controlled. Duct 91 communicates with conduit 96 which extends into a plug 97 in theouter end of cutter cylinder98. Within cylinder 98 is a disk 99 biased-toward the outer end of cylinder 98 by spring 101. Acup 102 is fixed to the surface of disk 99 facing plug 97 there being a groove 103m the center portion of cup 102 so that when cylinder disk 99 is in fully retracted position communication with conduit 96 is not cut off;

The forward end .of cutter cylinder 98 is formed with an extension 104 which projects to a position closely proximate arcuatc cutout 48 .of table47. A rectangular aperture106 is formed in extension 104 and slidable in apertrue 106 is cutter blade 107. Blade 107 is formed with a bevel in its outer end in top plan, as best illustrated in Fig. 2, and the outer end 109 of bl'a'de' lflTis'oblique to the direction of movement of the blade. The inner end of blade 107 is fastened to rod 111 attached to disk 99. Hence when valve piston 79 opens port 82, air pressure is established behind disk 99 extending to move blade 107 outwardly. It; is an important feature of this inventionthat the dimensioning of duct 66 and conduit 96 and the areas of. diaphragms 5,4 and disk 99-and the force of springs 63 and 101 is such that plunger 67 is fully moved to projectedpositionand hence clip 23 is closed before cutterblade 107 is projected.

On the side of recess 48 opposite extension 104. is a shear block 116 whichcooperates with blade 107 to cut off the excess of the neck of the bag. A slight bevel, as indicated by reference numeral 117 on shear block 116 insures proper shearing action in cooperation with blade pr v nt he n r of-th perat trom be n pinched between blade 107, andshear block 11 6,[a guard 118 is fastened to block 116 by screw.119,. A hook portion 121 extends inwardly and rearwardly-tola position slightly above the point ofcontact betweenblade1107,

and block 116, hook portion .121 preventing the fingers frombeing pinched.

In operation, after the ingredientshave been placed in bag 21 andthe bag evacuated, if required, theattendant twists neck.22 and inserts the 'neck inrecess 48 in table 47. Prior to such insertion magazine 39 has as sumed .a vertical position and lowermost clip 23 has dropped from the bottom of the magazine onto the space between jaws 69.71. As neck 22 is moved rearwardly into recess 48, it is positioned between openarms26 of clip 23 and lower magazine 39 is pushed back, as shown in Fig. 2. Additional clips are prevented from falling off the bottom of magazine 39 by retainer 43. A'sj lower' magazine 39 moves back, it contacts end 84 of valve rod 83 and pushes piston 79 back to open port 82 of valve 76. If the movement of magazine 39 is not sufiicient to open the valve, the attendant pushes disk 87 rearwardly to complete that operation. When the valve is opened,

compressed air flows through conduit 86 to housing 52 and exerts a pressure behind diaphragm 54, causing plunger 67 to move outwardly, and this forces arms 26 of clip 23 against points 72 of jaws 69 71, causing the jaws to pivot together and clamp clip 23 around neck 22, thereby sealing the contents of bag 21. At the same time, so long as valve 92 is open, air passes through conduit 96 to cutter cylinder 98. However, as has been explained above, the dimensioningof the conduits and theforces required to move the parts insures that clip 23 will be closed before disk 99 is moved by the compressed air to project blade 107 to clip off the excess bag material by a shearing action with shear block 116, as illustrated in Fig. 3. In this connection, the resistance to movement under air pressure of cutter blade piston cup 102 biased by spring is made greater than the resistanceto movement under air pressure of clip fastener diaphragm 54 biased by spring 63. This being so, compressed air admitted to conduit 86 from valve 79 will first fill the air chamber defined between, diaphragm 54 and member 52 and under influence of progressivebuildup of pressure move diaphragm 54 and cause actuation of clip fastening jaws 69 and 71 before there can occur sufiicient build-up of pressure in cylinder 98. to overcome the resistance to movement of air piston actuated cutter elements 107 and 111 After the excess material has been cut ofi, the ppet ator releases disk 87, which closes valve 76 and thereupon without danger of injury to the fingers because of accidental air operation of the bag cutter blade 107.

Although the foregoing invention has been described in some detail by way of illustration and example for purposes of clarity of understanding, it is understood that certain changes and modifications may be practiced within the spirit of the invention and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a machine for closing bag clips, a table, a pair of jaws pivotally mounted on said table, a magazine for depositing bag clips one at a time on said table, a reciprocable plunger positioned to engage a clip on said table and to pivot said jaws to closed position to close said clip, first fluid-actuated means connected to said plunger to reciprocate said plunger, a source of compressed fluid, a first conduit for said fluid extending from said source to said first fluid-actuated means, a valve in said conduit, a cutter blade, means mounting said blade for reciprocation proximate said jaws, a shear block cooperating with said blade to trim excess bag material extending beyond a closed clip, second fluid-actuated means connected to said cutter blade to reciprocate said cutter blade, a second conduit communicating with said first conduit between said valve and said first fluid-actuated means and extending to said second fluid actuated means, whereby upon opening of said valve said plunger and blade are projected.

2. A machine according to claim 1 wherein said second fluid-actuated means requires for actuation greater fluid pressure build-up than said first fluid-actuated means and whereby said plunger is projected to close said clip and then said blade is projected to trim excess bag material.

3. In a machine for closing bag clips, a table, a pair of jaws pivotally mounted on said table, a magazine for depositing clips one at a time on said table, means pivotally mounting said magazine for movement of its lower end toward and away from said jaws, a reciprocable plunger positioned to engage a clip on said table and to pivot said jaws to closed position to close said clip, first fluid-actuated means connected to said plunger to reciprocate said plunger, a source of compressed fluid, a first conduit for said fluid extending from said source to said first fluid-actuated means, a valve in said conduit, said magazine when moved away from said jaws contacting said valve to open said valve, a cutter blade, means mounting said blade for. reciprocation proximate said jaws, a shear block cooperating with said blade to trim excess bag material extending beyond a closed clip, second fluid-actuated means connected to said cutter blade to reciprocate said cutter blade, and a second conduit communicating with said first conduit between said valve and said first fluid-actuated means and extending to said second fluid-actuated means, whereby upon opening of said valve said plunger and blade are projected.

4. In combination, a frame, first means mounted on said frame for receiving the twisted neck of a bag and for supporting an open clip for said neck, second means on said first means to close a clip tightly around said neck, pneumatically-actuated third means on said frame to actuate said second means, a cutter blade, fourth means on said frame reciprocably mounting said cutter blade on said frame proximate said first means and on the side of said frame opposite said first means, said blade when projected passing across the locus of a clip held in said first means, fifth means on said frame cooperating with said blade to trim excess bag material above said clip, pneumatically-actuated sixth means actuating said blade, a conduit connecting said third means and sixth means, and a valve for actuating said third and sixth means.

5. The combination of claim 4 in which greater pneumatic' pressure is required to actuate said sixth means than said third means and whereby said third means is first actuated and then said sixth means.

6. The combination of claim 4 in which is further provided a magazine and means pivotally mounting said magazine on said frame, said magazine when in a first position depositing a clip on said first means and when pivoted from said first position to a second position contacting and opening said valve.

7. In the art of closing and trimming the necks of plastic bags and the like, the combination of a clip fastener unit including clip clamping jaws operable to apply a clip around the neck of a bag, and a bag cutter including a reciprocable cutter blade operable adjacent said jaws to cut through the neck of a bag above the clip applied by said jaws; first compressed air responsive driving means for closing the jaws of said fastener and cansing application of a clip to said bag neck; second compressed air .responsive driving means for reciprocating said cutter blade to cut through said bag neck; a source of compressed air in common communication with both said first and second driving means; common valve means for simultaneously opening and closing communication between said source and first and second driving means; said second driving means having a substantially higher air pressure operating response than the pressure operating response of said first driving means, whereby said first driving means will, upon opening ofsaid common valve means, operate to close said clamping jaws and apply a clip to said bag neck prior to operation of said second driving means.

8. In the art of closing and trimming the necks of plastic bags and the like, the combination of a clip fastener unit including clip clamping jaws operable to apply a clip around the neck of a bag, and a bag cutter including a reciprocable cutter blade operable adjacent said jaws to cut through the neck of a bag above the clip applied by said jaws; first compressed air responsive driving means for closing the jaws of said fastener and causing application of a clip to said bag neck; second compressed air responsive driving means for reciprocabing said cutter blade to cut through said bag neck; a source of compressed air; means including valve means for establishing compressed air communication to both said first and second driving means; means operable upon opening of said valve means for automatically successively actuating said first and second driving means with actuation of said second driving means occurring substantially immediately following actuation of said first driving means.

No references cited. 

